The Express Line

Mark and I made a quick stop at the grocery store as the last in our string of things to do before heading home.  We picked up our six items and went to the open "Express Checkout - 15 Items or Less" line.

There was a woman there, just starting to checkout.  She was well dressed with 'done' hair; older but not elderly.  She had a few things and seemed like it would be quick.  Some of it was fresh produce which required a moment to weigh and type in the code.  The cashier finished and the woman pulled out a coupon.  It wouldn't scan so the cashier typed in the number and the problem was solved.

The new total came up and the woman reached into her purse to pull out a checkbook.  She put that down and dove back in, looking for a pen.  Once she found the pen she carefully filled out the check as if she was a scribe recording a holy document.

At this point, Mark and I looked at each other and tried not to laugh.  It seems like every time we pick what should be the fast route, something happens to slow it down.

The woman finished her check and put away the book and pen.  The cashier waited until the woman looked up again and asked to see ID.  "You need ID?!" she gasped, as if she had never heard of such a thing.  Back into the purse she went until she came up with the ID.

The cashier wrote down some info, then entered it into the register.  S-l-o-w-l-y.  Beep.....beep.........beep beep............beep......  We couldn't help it anymore and cracked up loudly.  The transaction was finally finished but since no one was helping bag the cashier had to do that as well.

The woman went on her way as Mark and I stepped forward.  At this point, there were three other people waiting in line behind us.

Our six items were scanned very quickly and the total popped up on the screen.  Then I handed the cashier three coupons....